Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Perhaps false would be a better term to describe the claim that the reason for the the high price tag is the cost of manufacturing or incorporating those differences into the expensive helmets.
Part of the allure of high end helmets is the claim that every year or so some significant "improvements" have been made to the design and materials used. In order to claim this, there has to be some effort and added expenses - engineering, material search, testing, complex manufacturing process, and marketing. The people doing these things, and the new molds etc., must be figured into the cost of the "cutting edge" helmets.
"Old school" helmet designs that have not changed for several years do not have these expenses any more which allows them to be sold at lower prices. Eventually some advanced technology trickles down to cheaper helmets which is why some cheaper models are very good and fairly light.
As I see it the arguments in this thread boils down to two schools of thought:
1. High end helmets are "better" in some way, they cost more to produce, and the consumer pays more for whatever "better" means, and
2. High end helmets cost exactly the same as low end helmets to produce but through some worldwide conspiracy all of the major helmet manufacturers have colluded to jack up the price on certain models and call them "super" helmets with no justification for the higher prices i.e. "The Emperor's New Clothes" phenomenon.
Are some of us being fooled by the helmet makers or some of us just fools period?